The Dark sea
The Dark Sea is the little known subsurface "Sea" in which the hell islands and Hellpiea are situated. Composed mainly of ash, the sea is nevertheless traversable to many ships. Found deep beneath the ground, the Dark sea is largely hidden from the rest of the world, and is considered nothing more than a myth by those who have heard of it. Geography The Dark Sea occupies a chain of extremely large caverns, including the largest in the world, and as a result stretches for immense distance beneath the known seas. The dark sea is made primarily of fine voclanic ash, including pryobloin, an element normally found in Seastone. This acts as a congealant, making the ash behave in an almost liquid manner. In some places, thin veins of cooling lava also appear in the ash. It can be sailed on by most normal ships, although the ships do not always have the same boyancy and speed. However, in deaper levels, the ash is in fact resting on a thin crust of cooled molten rock, which in turn floats on the hotter magma underneath. At these places, the temperature is usually hot enough to set any ordinary ship ablaze, and any that are too large or heavy may break the crust, and be incinerated instantly. Vessels which travel to these deeper depths need to be designed differently, both to withstand the heat, and to avoid breaking the crust. The larger caverns are linked by a great multitude of channels, passageways, and lava tubes, some of which are flooded with dark sea ash, and others dry. Although almost entirely static and unchanging, this complicated web of tunnels represents a huge navigational challenge, requiring an experienced navigator and accurate maps to pass through safely. Hellpiea Caldera The region around Hellpiea, situated directly beneath the frozen island of Blizzarios, follows the day and night cycle of the surface world, due to a huge diamond embeded in the cieling of the cavern. This astonishingly clear refractive gem extends all the way to the surface, where it is burried beneath Blizzarios's glaciers. Sunlight striking the ice is refracted through the gem, causing it to shine brightly like a small star during the day time. This used to shed light without restriction over the surrounding area, but following his rise to power Mercury constructed his pallace around the bottom of the gem, and designed it to include huge shutters and sliding walls, which block the light from the city below whenever he chooses. As a result, within Hellpiea itself, day and night is said to be controlled by Mercury. The kingdom of Hellpiea itself is a massive caldera that rises out of the dark sea, forming one of the larger islands of the upper cavern. The steep outer slopes are bleak and barren, as well as dotted with occasional fortifications and ramparts created by Mercury's army. The city itself is situated within the crater itself, where it is suspended by a network of chains and stone supports above a huge pool of lava. The Midnight Shore Far to the east of Hellpia, the magma becomes more deeply buried and the sea cools and darkens. Out here, the light is much fainter, the diamond rarely any more than a distant point of light in the gloom. The ash here gradually shallows into a rocky obsidian shore which is effectively in permenent night. This land is the effective border of Styxia's terretory. Category:Hell island related